


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Going to Gay Pride

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [27]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gay Character, Gen, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-27 03:45:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18296183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: Going to gay pride is half Tony’s idea, half Clint’s. Clint is proudly bisexual, and Tony is very proudly queer, so they’re both excited to go in general, and then they find out that Steve and Bucky haven’t been to pride before, and they immediately decide to fix this problem. “We’re going to pride!” Tony announces to everyone in the living room, “So put on the gayest shit you have and let’s go!”





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Going to Gay Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the series, or if you're new here, welcome! This part of the series is about the heroes at gay pride! Enjoy!

Going to gay pride is half Tony’s idea, half Clint’s. Clint is proudly bisexual, and Tony is very proudly queer, so they’re both excited to go in general, and then they find out that Steve and Bucky haven’t been to pride before, and they immediately decide to fix this problem. “We’re going to pride!” Tony announces to everyone in the living room, “So put on the gayest shit you have and let’s go!”

 

Everyone scrambles to their feet, because fuck yes, pride is always fun, and no one in the room is both straight and cis, so they’re always excited for a chance to represent. Natasha texts Peter, Jessica, Frank, Luke, and Danny, because she knows Peter, Jessica, and Danny are part of the LGBT community, and she’s not sure about Frank or Luke but she figures they might enjoy going anyway. She would text Matt, but she doesn’t have his number yet, so she figures that someone else can text him if they think he’ll want to go.

 

They don’t talk about their identities often, but as they all gather back on the communal floor after changing clothes, Tony holds up a huge stack of gift boxes. “Okay, folks, here we go, gift time before we leave! Clint, this is for you, Loki, here’s yours, Steve…” Tony goes around the room until almost everyone has a box. “Well, what are you waiting for? Open them!”

 

Everyone opens their boxes, and there's a series of gasps around the room. Each box has new service dog gear for the teams, made to match the identities of the handlers: Lucky has a set in the pink, purple, and blue of the bisexual pride flag, and another set in grey, blue, and white for the demiboy flag; Smash has a set in the aromantic colors and another in the asexual colors; Sam has a set in the polysexual pride colors and another in the androgyne pride colors, and so on.

 

Tony is still holding five boxes, and Natasha gives him a look. “I figured Peter and Jessica and them would want pride gear too. I wasn’t sure about Frank or Luke, so theirs are just in rainbow.” The handlers change out their dogs’ gear, and then they’re off to pride.

 

* * *

 

They meet the other handlers at the pride festival in Central Park, and Tony hands out the gift boxes to them. “I’m actually aromantic and bigender. Heterosexual though,” Luke says. 

 

“Yeah, and I’m heteroromantic, bisexual, and cis,” Frank adds, and Tony nods, typing it into his phone as a note for later. While the handlers gear up their dogs, Natasha asks about Matt, since he’s not with them.

 

“He didn’t want to come. Said it’s too loud,” Jessica says, and Natasha nods, files that information away for later. Once everyone’s ready, people split off into smaller groups to wander around, and Natasha finds herself with Jessica and Clint, walking from booth to booth.

 

They’re slowly making their way around the festival when they hear yelling a little ways away, and Nat, Jess, and Clint trade looks, heading that direction. They find Steve, Bucky, Tony, and Sam face to face with a group of anti-gay protestors, arguing at full volume while their respective service dogs try to get them to walk away.

 

Diva is nudging repeatedly at Tony’s hip, Ava is circling Sam, trying to slowly move him away from the protestors, Fubar has his own leash in his mouth and is flat out trying to yank Bucky backwards, and Verity is jumping up on Steve, finally succeeding in knocking the man to the ground and laying on his chest to force him to stay down, but Steve is still yelling from the ground.

 

“Since when is being gay a sin? Whatever happened to love your neighbor? You don’t get to pick and choose the parts of the Bible you like! What happened to don’t judge? What happened to basic human kindness? What the fuck is your problem? I didn’t come out of the ice for this bullshit!”

 

Fuck, Steve must be mad if he’s swearing like that. “Jessica, can you grab Tony? Clint, you got Bucky? I’ll get Sam and Steve,” Natasha says, and the other two nod, moving towards their respective people. Natasha grabs Sam first, because Steve is at least not moving towards the protestors, so that’s a start. “Sam, don’t do this, you know they want to get a rise out of you, don’t let them have that,” Natasha says quietly as she grabs Sam’s arm, and the man huffs.

 

“They have no goddamn right to ruin this event for young LGBT people, they’re such assholes,” Sam says, and Natasha plants her feet just as Sam starts to pull forward, only barely keeping him from getting any closer to the protestors.

 

“I know, I agree, but you're not going to win if you hit them, you know that. Sam, you remember what you told me about not being able to hit racists? Because people will automatically demonize you for it? You know that’s what will happen if you hit one of them. Don’t do it, Sam, come on, please.”

 

That makes Sam hesitate, and he stops pulling, taking half a step back. “You're right. Fuck, you’re right. I hate them so much, Nat. I want to hit them so bad.”

 

“I know. But walk away. There’s so much joy here today, there’s so much positivity, go out there, don’t stay here. You deserve better than this.” Natasha lets go of his arm.

 

Sam sighs. “Yeah, okay. Yeah. Thanks, Nat.”

 

“Don’t forget to thank Ava, too. She’s the one that stopped you before I even got here.”

 

Sam scratches Ava behind the ears. “Yeah, she’s a good kid. Alright, I’m going to go get her water. Thanks again.” Sam walks away with Ava, so Natasha turns back to Steve, who’s trying to get back up but keeps getting stopped by Verity jumping on his chest. Natasha walks over, crouching down beside him.

 

“Steve, it’s not worth it. We need to leave.”

 

“Nat, they’re being fucking pricks to people who are happy, what kind of shitty Christians do they think they are? I swear I don’t give a damn what anyone has to say about it, I’m going to knock one of these fuckers on their ass.” Steve tries to sit back up again, so Natasha shoves him down again with a hand on his shoulder, helping Verity.

 

“I know, Steve, but punching them isn’t going to help, you’re just going to make them feel justified in being assholes. So come on, for fuck’s sake, Steve, you’ll prove your point better if you just wrap yourself in a rainbow flag and make out with someone who isn’t a woman.”

 

Steve goes still, then nods. “Yeah, okay. Let me up.”

 

Verity steps off to the side, so Natasha takes that as her cue to step back as well. Steve stands and walks over to where Clint and Bucky are standing, whispering something in Bucky’s ear. Bucky’s eyes go wide, and then he grins, nodding, and Natasha already knows where this is headed.

 

The two of them walk back up to the group of protestors, and Steve gently takes Bucky’s face in his hands, pulling him into a slow, gentle kiss. As they kiss, both Steve and Bucky raise their hands closest to the protestors, flipping them off. The protestors’ chants come to a halting stop, and there’s some grumbling and a few fake gagging noises, and then the protestors are walking away, shouting slurs over their shoulders.

 

Steve and Bucky pull apart, both of them grinning. “Still just bros?” Steve asks, and Bucky nods, laughing.

 

“Still just bros. So fucking worth it to make them leave.”

 

Tony and Clint make whining noises in the background, and everyone turns to look at them. “We’re feeling kind of left out now,” Tony complains, and Steve laughs.

 

“Next batch of protestors we see, I’ll kiss you instead, and I’m pretty sure Buck wouldn’t mind doing the same with you, Clint.” Bucky nods, and both Tony and Clint perk up, turning to each other and high-fiving.

 

“Yes! Success!” Clint cheers.

 

Natasha rolls her eyes. “Alright boys, come on, there’s still so much more to see around here. Jess, you coming?”

 

“Fuck yeah, let’s go,” Jessica says, and the group heads towards the nearest booth.

**Author's Note:**

> Service dog facts of the day:
> 
> -Service dogs can perform the same task but in different ways! For example, in the story, you see Diva, Ava, Fubar, and Verity all trying to alert/block their handlers for anxiety/anger, but using different methods. Diva pushes at Tony's hip, because pushing on his chest can sometimes trigger flashbacks to Afghanistan, so it's best to avoid that entirely. Ava circles Sam because he doesn't react well to being pushed. It's kind of a reflex, "push me and i will push you back" kind of thing, so it's safer to have Ava "herd" him back instead.
> 
> -Bucky can be very touch averse because of past traumas, so Fubar grabs the leash instead rather than grabbing Bucky himself, if it can be avoided. However, if Bucky is thoroughly stuck in a flashback and could be a danger to himself or others, Fubar will push/pull Bucky himself. Finally, Steve has very bad anger and aggression issues, so Verity pushes on Steve directly to get him to stop, as it's the only thing that will work the more upset Steve gets.
> 
> -Service dogs are not a fix-all. There's still going to be times when a handler has severe symptoms flare up and the dog will not be able to completely eliminate the handler's symptoms. Service dogs are very, very helpful, but at the end of the day, there's still a lot of accountability that ultimately falls on the handler. You need to do the upkeep training with your dog, you need to watch out for yourself, and you need to make sure that you don't push your limits in dangerous or unhealthy ways. Your service dog will be able to make your disability much easier to manage, but they will not be able to stop your disability.
> 
> With that said, if you want to see more of my drabbles or notes related to this series, or want to talk to me about this series or anything else for that matter, you can find me on tumblr [ here ](https://servicedogsforsuperheroes.tumblr.com)
> 
> Bucky's dog Fubar is based on the lovely webcomic [ Bucky and Fubar](https://buckyandfubar.tumblr.com/) by the amazing [ yawpkatsi ](https://yawpkatsi.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!
> 
> Bruce/Hulk's dog being named Smash and the original concept for this series comes from AO3 user [ thingswithwings ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingswithwings/pseuds/thingswithwings) and their story [ "Five Ways to Get In Touch with Your Inner Mild-Mannered Scientist" ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/429749?view_adult=true)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!!


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